Kansas Counties

Davis County, Kansas [defunct]

Named for Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), at the time the U.S. Secretary of War, and later president of the Confederacy.

History:

Davis was one of the original 33 counties created by the first territorial legislature. It lost territory to Dickinson County in 1857 and to Wabaunsee County in 1860; it gained territory from Dickinson in 1860 and from Riley in 1873. The name was changed in 1889 to Geary; an 1893 attempt to change it back was unsuccessful.

The first Europeans to visit Davis County were Coronado and his expedition, searching for Quivira in 1541. The Bourgmont expedition of 1724 probably traveled along the south bank of the Kansas River through what became Davis County. Fort Riley was established by the U.S. Army in 1852; the first post office in the county was established at the fort in 1855.